“Wearies” or Working, Entrepreneurial and Active Retirees could be forced to continue working into their seventies and beyond due to hardship.
Effectively ruled out of employment by age, they will have to set up their own businesses.
According to a study for Friends Life by think tank, Future Foundation, some are likely to supplement their incomes by buying and selling goods on websites, while others will turn their front rooms into offices or cottage industry workshops.
Those with manual skills are likely to set up gardening or home help businesses.
The research, which involved 1,000 people across the UK, found that over half of retired respondents would be prepared to do part-time work to boost their pensions.
Meanwhile, of those currently working:
59% would consider selling “unneeded or little-used possessions online”
34% would opt to “run a small, one-person business from home”
21% would consider “gardening for elderly neighbours or for the Council”
18% would be prepared to do “social services work for the community”
Asked to consider housing options:
14% of current workers said they would consider “moving in with other family members” and 12% “moving in with my children”
33% said they would rent out a spare room to a lodger
Friends Life head of corporate benefits marketing, Martin Palmer, comments: “Necessity is the mother of invention and Wearies will be among the most innovative and entrepreneurial contributors to the UK economy, despite their senior years.”
Gill Montia, Insurance Daily
